A new moon. More change. I’m sitting, meditating in this space I consecrated to Gwyn ap Nudd and the deities of Annwn as a cell of the Monastery of Annwn, being guided to focus on my breath, my here-ness. On the process of becoming Sister Patience as I approach taking my temporary vows as a nun of Annwn. And I realise this virtual space, re-named Orddu’s Cave, isn’t reflecting this place or who I am.

I changed the name of this blog several weeks ago for a few different reasons. The title ‘From Peneverdant’ was no longer working for me as I live a good mile and a half from ‘the Green Hill on the Water’ after which my hometown is named. Away from the river Ribble, up Fish House Brook, through Greencroft Valley, close to its source on the edge of where Penwortham Moss was drained off. In the Kingsfold Ward very close to the once notorious estate known as ‘the Beirut of Preston’.

It was no longer reflecting my monastic turn, to the turning of my attention to tending this sacred space, the cauldron of inspiration within and without, our garden, continuing to volunteer in Greencroft Valley.

The tagline ‘In Service to the Old Gods of Britain’ was no longer working as my path was becoming increasingly henotheistic, centred on Gwyn, whilst continuing to honour His family and the spirits of Annwn and my local deities.

I felt a calling to reconnect with Orddu and her ancestors – the lineage of witches who lived in a cave in Pennant Gofid, ‘the Valley of Grief’, in an unknown location in the Old North. I found analogies between their cave-dwelling and my own retreat to my monastic cell yet ‘Orddu’s Cave’ began to feel too distant.

I now feel much happier with ‘The Cell of Sister Patience’ reflecting where I am and who I am.